


What a Difference a Day Makes

by the_gramophone



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Parenthood, Valentine's Day, photographer!Derek, soldier!Stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-14
Updated: 2014-02-14
Packaged: 2018-01-12 07:57:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1183824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_gramophone/pseuds/the_gramophone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek is struggling not to feel lonely this Valentine's Day, but he does his best to put on a brave and happy face for his daughter. Both their days take a turn for the better when they get an unexpected surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What a Difference a Day Makes

**Author's Note:**

> This is the result of me emotionally watching a lot of soldier coming home videos late at night last night, and then telling my dear friend Ruthann about the ideas it was giving me. She said "Go write that oneshot right the fuck now" and I decided that rather than ignoring her as I would normally, I'd write it as her Valentine's Day present. :)
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of these characters. I make no profit from writing this. The title is borrowed from the song by the same name, first performed by Dinah Washington. 
> 
> I know nothing basically about the military or how homecomings work. I based this entirely on my imagination, the WelcomeHomeBlog on youtube, and Army Wives. 
> 
> Many thanks to Sarah for being the best beta ever, even when I ask her to do a rush job on a fandom she isn't even in. Much love <3

“Daddy! Daddy! Wake up!” Derek woke abruptly to little fingers poking him in the face. 

“Talia, what is it?” he mumbled, opening his eyes blearily. 

“I can’t be late, Daddy! Today’s Valentine’s Day!” After Talia’s kindergarten teacher had first explained what Valentine’s Day was, Talia had talked of nothing else for weeks. They had bought little Valentines for all the kids in her class already, but Talia had gone a step further, volunteering to bring in the Friday snacks that week. Derek had been up for hours the night before, frosting cupcakes. 

“We won’t be, sweetie,” he said. “Why don’t you go pick out what cereal you want?”

Talia beamed and raced from the room, black hair streaming behind her. Derek sat at the edge of his bed, rubbing his eyes. It was hard to share Talia’s enthusiasm when he had no one to celebrate with. Derek knew that it was a commercial holiday, intended to boost candy sales, but he still couldn’t help but feel lonelier today than he normally did. 

There was nothing for it. He couldn’t ruin the day for Talia with his melancholy attitude. Keeping that in mind, he headed downstairs to get her ready for school. 

After dropping Talia off, dressed in her favorite pair of jeans and a bright pink sweater, and carefully bearing the Tupperware container full of cupcakes, Derek headed to the office. One of the nice things about being self-employed was he could set his own hours. When he had to start taking care of Talia by himself, he cut back the amount of time spent in the office. It was more important that he spend time with her. The majority of his photography gigs were on the weekends anyway. After his parents died, he inherited more than enough money from their life insurance to live comfortably. But he could never be content just sitting around, and so he liked to supplement his income photographing weddings and other special events. When he was able to, he would put together more artistic collections to display in the gallery downtown. These days he rarely had the time, but he never regretted it. He enjoyed showing his work, but it was a small sacrifice to make so he could spend time with his daughter.

“Morning, Erica,” he said as he walked in. 

“Hey,” she said, not looking up from the computer at the reception desk. “They’re waiting in the conference room.”

Derek winced. “There was a line at the drop-off today. They been here long?”

“Five minutes.” Erica shrugged. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”

Derek nodded and headed into the room. Today’s meeting was with a young couple who wanted engagement photos taken. On a normal day, Derek would have been looking forward to it. It was always fun to meet with couples near the beginning of their engagement. The stress of planning their wedding hadn’t gotten to them yet, and they looked at everything with the excitement of starting a new life together. 

Today, however, Derek felt nothing but resentment towards the fresh-faced and happy couple. He knew it was unfair, but he couldn’t help feeling bitter. Being unable to spend Valentine’s Day with the man he loved was making him feel uncharitable. All he wanted was to be with his husband.

The meeting finally ended, and he saw them to the door, collapsing on a chair in the reception area once they left. 

“Having a rough time today?” Erica asked sympathetically. 

Derek sighed and looked at his hands. “It’s rough every day, it’s just … worse today.”

“It’s not for much longer,” Erica said. 

“It’s not until June,” Derek pointed out. “Four and a half months to go.”

Erica bit her lip, scrunching her face. “Yeah, I know. But this is the last time, right?”

“Yeah,” Derek nodded. “I just have to make it until June without combusting.”

“You will,” Erica promised. “And then it’ll be like he never left.”

Derek smiled. “You’re right. At least I got to talk to him last week. But enough about me. When’s Mrs. Tillman due?”

Erica flipped through their appointment book. “Five minutes,” she said. “But she’ll probably be early. Go to the bathroom, splash some water on your face, and then come back. You’ll feel better.”

Derek doubted that, but did as she said. Luckily his next appointment was a baby photo shoot. The family wanted pictures of their son on his first birthday. It was basically impossible to feel down when shooting a smiling, chubby baby. It helped that Mrs. Tillman was very easy to please. Sometimes mothers could get fussier than their children, but Mrs. Tillman was content with whatever poses or backgrounds Derek chose. At their initial meeting she had good-naturedly gone with the flow, agreeing with almost all of Derek’s ideas for the shoot. She seemed confident that her son would come out looking adorable, and trusted Derek to do the rest. Derek appreciated that sort of hands-off attitude in the parents. 

It was noon by the time Derek finished. He swore when he saw his watch. He was due to pick up Talia in five minutes, and he was fifteen minutes away. 

“Erica, I gotta go!” he called as he raced toward the door. “Finish up the billing and then you can leave early.”

“Thanks, boss!” she replied cheerfully. “Say hi to Talia for me!”

Through a little bit of speeding and some fortunately timed green lights, Derek was only five minutes late. Because he was late, however, all the close parking spots were taken, and he ended up in the back of the lot. He jogged lightly to the door, ducking and weaving through the cars to get inside. Talia was normally a happy little girl, but ever since Stiles left she worried whenever Derek wasn’t exactly on time. One time he had been late picking her up, and she had to sleep with him that night, convinced that he would disappear as soon as she turned her back. 

“Hey baby,” he said once he got to the classroom. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

“That’s okay!” she chirped. Derek sighed in relief. It looked like Talia had been so distracted by the Valentine’s Day festivities she hadn’t had a chance to worry. 

“Are you all packed up?” he asked, eyeing her table, which was littered with pieces of candy and the little store bought Valentines they had handed out. 

“I forgot!” Talia said, hurrying over to her cubby to grab her Disney princess backpack. “I was talking to Mara. She said that vanilla was the best type of ice cream because it goes with everything but I said that chocolate is the best because it is! Right, Daddy?”

Derek nodded seriously. “Chocolate’s always been my favorite,” he agreed.

Derek let Talia chatter, helping her pack her little backpack with all her things. 

“Mr. Hale?” Talia’s teacher interrupted, touching his arm lightly to get his attention. “Here’s the container from the cupcakes. It was so nice of you to offer to bring them in.” She smiled seductively, pushing her chest out. 

“Not a problem,” he replied. “Talia was the one who volunteered. I just helped out.” He had first noticed her interest in him several months ago, and had decided that ignoring it was the only answer. She never crossed the line of what could be considered appropriate for the classroom, so he didn’t complain to the school. Besides, Talia enjoyed having her as a teacher. 

“Ready to go, sweetie?” he asked, turning back to Talia. “I thought we could go out to eat someplace special for Valentine’s Day. What do you think about that?”

Talia squealed excitedly, jumping up and down. “Can I pick? Can I?” she begged. 

Derek laughed and held out his hand for her to latch onto. “Of course,” he said. “I’d be a pretty bad date if I didn’t let the lady pick, wouldn’t I?”

Talia wrinkled her nose. “You’re not a real date!”

“I’m not?” Derek feigned hurt, shaking his head. “But I love you!”

“You’re my daddy,” Talia said imperiously. “You have to.”

“Oh really?” Derek asked. “Do I have to love you this much?” He stretched his arms out to either side.

Talia nodded. “Yep! Aunt Lydia said so. She said that you had to do anything I said today because you love me and that’s what Valentine’s Day is.”

“I see,” Derek said seriously. “I suppose there’s nothing else to do then.”

“What?” Talia asked. 

Derek swung his arms closed around Talia, wrapping her in a bear hug. “We have to hug! It’s the rule!”

“Daddy!” Talia laughed, pushing at his shoulder. “Daddy, my friends will see! I’m a big girl now, you can’t just hug me at school.”

Derek pecked a quick kiss on her forehead before releasing her, grabbing her hand again. “Is that so? Are you too big for presents?”

Talia’s eyes widened. “No!”

“Good,” Derek said. “Because I’d hate for it to go to waste. You have to give the girl you love a Valentine’s Day present, after all.”

“Can I have it now?” Talia demanded.

Derek laughed, and shook his head. “You can have it after lunch,” he promised. By the time they were finished eating, the Sheriff should be done setting up the new play set in their backyard. Derek couldn’t wait to see her face when they got home. 

They swung into the last aisle of the parking lot. Derek was distracted, trying to calculate how long he would need to stretch lunch for to give the Sheriff enough time, when he felt Talia stop beside him. 

“Talia?” he asked, turning to look at her. She was staring straight ahead, eyes wide. 

“Papa!” she yelled, breaking free of Derek and running forward towards the car. 

Derek whipped his head around. Leaning against their SUV was a tall, thin man, clad in Marine dress blues, with a bag on the ground next to him. 

Talia reached him, still squealing and reaching her arms out. He laughed and leaned down, swooping her up in her arms. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and burst into tears. 

“Papa, I missed you,” she sobbed, the words muffled from where her face was pressed into his shoulder. 

“I missed you too, baby,” he replied, eyes glistening with tears. He looked up to where Derek was standing, staring in shock. “Hey there. Give a guy a lift?”

Derek choked back something that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob before rushing forward, wrapping his arms around Talia and Stiles. “You’re home,” he said wonderingly. 

“I got sent home early,” Stiles said. 

“Are you going away again?” Talia asked. 

“Nope,” Stiles shook his head. “You’re stuck with me.” He grinned, and glanced at Derek. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Derek reached a hand out and covered Talia’s eyes before grinning and catching Stiles in a kiss. He poured everything he had into it – all the late nights worrying, the lonely holidays, the short Skype calls he lived for. He hadn’t seen his husband in more than a year, and suddenly he was home, safe, where he belonged. 

“Daddies!” Talia interrupted. “Are you done yet? I’m bored!”

Derek finally broke away, laughing. “Want to get some lunch?”

Stiles smiled and opened the car door, throwing his bag in the back. “Always.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! You can find me on tumblr at abravelittletoaster :)


End file.
